1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composition of materials which is fixed on a carrier, such as piece of cloth, and then affixed to the underside of a cover for a container. The composition serves to absorb oxygen from the air, water or any other substance in the container thereby to prevent oxidation of materials in the container or to de-oxidate materials in the container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore an oxygen absorbent comprising metal slivers or powders in or on a carrier such as a piece of gauze or cotton which has been impregnated with a liquid medium such as water or a salt water solution has been proposed. Examples of such previously proposed oxygen absorbents are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. PAT. NO. PATENTEE ______________________________________ 4,192,773 Yoshikawa et al. 4,166,807 Komatsu et al. ______________________________________
Other examples are disclosed in the following Derwendt abstracts of Japanese patents:
76 JA 147452, 77 JA 066987, 77 JA 076294, 78 JA 030610, 79 JP 092568.
Japanese Patent Abstract 79 JP 092568 discloses the provision of oxygen absorbing material for use in food storage. The material comprises iron powder of approximately 100 mesh, sodium chloride and a packing agent mixed together to obtain an oxygen absorbing agent. Typically the packing agent will include water.
In Japanese Patent Abstract 77 JA 066987 there is disclosed a deoxygenating agent comprising iron carbide powder and a salt, e.g., sodium chloride, carried on a support or carrier such as cotton.
The two U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,166,807 and 4,192,773 each disclose an oxygen absorbent comprising a metal halide and iron.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the oxygen absorbing composition of the present invention comprises iron particles and yeast and some water which are placed on a carrier such as a piece of cotton cloth or a cotton ball.
It has been found that the yeast acts as an organic electrolyte and yet does not form a salt on the iron particles in the composition. As a result, very small iron particles can be utilized increasing the surface area for oxidation thereby increasing the rate of oxidation.